Studies on asthma have shown that air pollution can lead to increased asthma prevalence. The aim of this study is to examine the association between air pollution (fine particulate matter (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3)) and human health (asthma emergency department visit rate (AEVR) and asthma discharge rate (ADR)) among residents of New York, USA during the period 2005 to 2007. Annual rates of asthma were calculated from population estimates for 2005, 2006, and 2007 and number of asthma hospital discharge and emergency department visits. Population data for New York were taken from US Bureau of Census, and asthma data were obtained from New York State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance report. Data on the concentrations of PM2.5, SO2 and ground level ozone were obtained from various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties. Annual means of these concentrations were compared to annual variations in asthma prevalence by using Pearson correlation coefficient. We found different associations between the annual mean concentration of PM2.5, SO2 and surface ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit from 2005 to 2007. A positive correlation coefficient was observed between the annual mean concentration of PM2.5, and SO2 and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency department visit from 2005 to 2007. However, the correlation coefficient between annual mean concentrations of ground ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit was found to be negative from 2005 to 2007. Our study suggests that the association between elevated concentrations of PM2.5 and SO2 and asthma prevalence among residents of New York State in USA is consistent enough to assume concretely a plausible and significant association.

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The influence of local climatic factors on ground-level ozone concentrations is an area of increasing interest to air quality management in regards to future climate change. This study presents an analysis on the role of temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and NO2 level on ground-level ozone concentrations over the region of Eastern Texas, USA. Ozone concentrations at the ground level depend on the formation and dispersion processes. Formation process mainly depends on the precursor sources, whereas, the dispersion of ozone depends on meteorological factors. Study results showed that the spatial mean of ground-level ozone concentrations was highly dependent on the spatial mean of NO2 concentrations. However, spatial distributions of NO2 and ozone concentrations were not uniformed throughout the study period due to uneven wind speeds and wind directions. Wind speed and wind direction also played a significant role in the dispersion of ozone. Temperature profile in the area rarely had any effects on the ozone concentrations due to low spatial variations.

Rising concentration of air pollution and its associated health effects is rapidly increasing in India, and Delhi, being the capital city, has drawn our attention in recent years. This study was designed to analyze the spatial and temporal variations of particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in a mega city, Delhi. The daily PM2.5 concentrations monitored by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), New Delhi during November 2016 to October 2017 in different locations distributed in the region of the study were used for the analysis. The descriptive statistics indicate that the spatial mean of monthly average PM2.5 concentrations ranged from 45.92 μg m−3 to 278.77 μg m−3. The maximum and minimum spatial variance observed in the months of March and September, respectively. The study also analyzed the PM2.5 air quality index (PM2.5—Air Quality Index (AQI)) for assessing the health impacts in the study area. The AQI value was determined according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) system. The result suggests that most of the area had the moderate to very unhealthy category of PM2.5-AQI and that leads to severe breathing discomfort for people residing in the area. It was observed that the air quality level was worst during winter months (October to January).

Air pollution has been an on-going research focus due to its detrimental impact on human health. However, its specific effects on asthma prevalence in different age groups, genders and races are not well understood. Thus, the present study was designed to examine the association between selected air pollutants and asthma prevalence in different population groups during 2010 in the eastern part of Texas, USA.The pollutants considered were particulate matter (PM2.5 with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 micrometers) and surface ozone. The population groups were categorized based on age, gender, and race. County-wise asthma hospital discharge data for different age, gender, and racial groups were obtained from Texas Asthma Control Program, Office of Surveillance, Evaluation and Research, Texas Department of State Health Services. The annual means of the air pollutants were obtained from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)’s air quality system data mart program. Pearson correlation analyzes were conducted to examine the relationship between the annual mean concentrations of pollutants and asthma discharge rates (ADR) for different age groups, genders, and races. The results reveal that there is no significant association or relationship between ADR and exposure of air pollutants (PM2.5, and O3). The study results showed a positive correlation between PM2.5 and ADR and a negative correlation between ADR and ozone in most of the cases. These correlations were not statistically significant, and can be better explained by considering the local weather conditions. The research findings facilitate identification of hotspots for controlling the most affected populations from further environmental exposure to air pollution, and for preventing or reducing the health impacts.